Protective covers or guards for aircraft engines are known in the art. Such covers are used to guard the engines from foreign debris and are located forward of the engine at the air intake. The introduction of such covers, however, inherently restricts the airflow into the associated air intake. Such restricted intake airflow may not be consistent with the aircraft engine airflow requirements. With respect to airflow requirements, it is desirable to maximize the total pressure recovery, i.e., the airflow which impinges upon the cover compared to that which is delivered to the engine within. Low pressure recovery negatively impacts the engine efficiency and may even result in engine stall. This is especially problematic where there is a sudden high airflow requirement, such as when the aircraft is performing emergency maneuvers.
Thus, when designing an air intake cover, the cover must have enough structure to perform its debris guarding function while having the least amount of interference with the intake airflow. Examples of prior art covers may take the form of a thin screen or grill of intermeshed wires. In addition to inherently restricting airflow, many of these prior art covers undesirably cause downstream air dispersion or turbulence at the back face of the cover inside of the air intake. Turbulence or a non-cohesive air velocity profile within the intake airflow may significantly reduces air pressure to the engines.
As such, based upon the foregoing, there exists a need in the art for an improved air intake system which guards against foreign debris, has enhanced airflow characteristics, especially in terms of pressure recovery, and has low manufacturing costs in comparison to the prior art.